Outfit: Teal Appeal

I've given lots of blog space to Target collaborations, but today I'm going to showcase a piece from Kohl's.  They have a recent line called DesigNation, in which the designer chooses a city for inspiration, and they send the designer out to that city to create the pieces.  The first designer was Narciso Rodriguez, who was inspired by Istanbul, then Derek Lam with Rio, and currently we have Catherine Malandrino and Paris.  These collections are for some reason given less publicity than the Target ones, but the pieces are usually just as nice.  Last year, I bought a swimsuit and two tops from the Derek Lam collection.  This time around, I didn't have much on my wish list because most of the pieces are black and white, which just isn't my style.  I'm a color lover!  I deliberately sought out the pieces with color and am so glad I didn't overlook them!  Like this lovely teal sweater...

I can't seem to get it to photograph right, but it has a wonderful collection of textures, with the raised ribbing contrasting with the pointelle holes.  The ribbed part over the bust is, I'm sure, a strategic decision.  I do have to wear a flesh-toned cami underneath it for modesty, but that's no big deal.  The color is a dark teal, and it matches my super-comfy Cole Haan ballet flats just perfectly!

I also want to take a minute to mention these incredible skinny jeans...they're made by Uniqlo, and they're amazing!  I've never seen my legs looking better, and I feel super-sexy in them.  They're a perfect length (32" inseam - you can choose between that and 34").  I could wear them with heels, flats, or boots.  And they're only $19.90!  The downside is that since they run small in the thigh-to-calf area, I had to size up, and they gap enough at the waist that I can get an entire hand into the waistband.  And while they say they're mid-rise, they're not...the rise in my size is 8 inches, which is technically a low rise.  But they do cover my butt and sit comfortably on my hip bones, and the waist gapping is (A) something I'm very used to, as a curvy chica, and (B) nothing that a little belt can't fix.  Finally, the straight cut is much more forgiving than the tapered cut in the hip-to-knee area, so try out both to see which works for you.

Top: Catherine Malandrino for DesigNation at Kohl's

Jeans: Uniqlo skinny fit straight leg

Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target

Shoes: Maria Sharapova by Cole Haan

Outfit: Fashion Faux-Pants

As they say on What Not to Wear...shut the front door!  I never, ever, EVER thought I'd be able to pull off a leggings-as-pants look.  I've always thought of leggings as something I would need to wear with a long tunic that covers the butt.  Enter Uniqlo's "Leggings Pants."  Aside from the fact that I really want to rip the "s" off of Leggings and just call them "Legging Pants," these are perfect in every way.  Unbelievably slimming, they have the fit of skinny jeans but the feel and comfort of leggings.  Today I was going to a choral workshop for a musical I have a part in, and I knew I'd have to move and stretch a lot, so these were perfect.  Uniqlo's sizes tend to run small since they're designed for skinny Japanese people, but I managed to work myself into a medium, so I'm sure there's a size for almost everyone out there!  And they're on sale right now at Uniqlo for $14.90 ($5 off the regular price)!  Even if you miss the sale, the regular price isn't bad for the quality.  Side note: the faux leather and corduroy run smaller because the fabric has very little give, so I sized up to large in those.  YMMV.

I went with earth tones for fall, and it actually threw me for a bit of a loop.  Lately I've been wearing almost exclusively bold colors and bright prints.  But earth tones were the staple of my older wardrobe, so I have plenty of them.  I dug out a brown embellished almost-tunic top to pair with these dark olive leggings.  It's not quite long enough to cover my butt, but it's OK because, again, these leggings are really more like pants!  It was a little chilly in the rehearsal hall, so I threw on a soft and warm hooded sweater, and that one does cover my butt.  So it's an option for when I'm both cold AND self-conscious.  The bag is my ridiculously adorable Phillip Lim for Target taupe mini, and the shoes are a guilty pleasure...sequined leopard-print TOMS.  They're brown, gold, and black, and they gave this casual outfit a little ZING!

Top: Chico's
Sweater: Tag says "Kenji handknit" - honestly can't remember where it came from!
Leggings: Uniqlo Leggings Pants
Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target
Shoes: TOMS (Nordstrom Exclusive "Panthera" style)

Outfit: Chic NYC Wedding

I went out of town last weekend for the wedding of a friend from med school.  Husband and I had a great time, and I hadn't seen my friend J in about 5 years, so that was really nice.  The fact that the wedding was in Manhattan on a Saturday evening and that both members of the couple were in the Navy made me worry that I wouldn't be dressed formally enough, but I took a gamble with this knee-length dress from Banana Republic, and it turned out to be perfect.  Apologies for the photo quality...the mirror in my mother-in-law's apartment desperately needs a cleaning, and the lighting was pretty bad.  Here goes...

This dress is from the Issa London collection for BR.  I absolutely adore this collection and bought 4 dresses and a top from it!  The A-line shape with a wrap tie at the waist is so flattering, the royal blue color is amazing, and the whole image is one of simple elegance.  I dressed up the look with some sparkly heels and an amazing metallic leather clutch from a Target collab.  Added some pearl jewelry to top it off.  The dress looked great even after a few hours of dancing!  We had an absolute blast...the dinner was excellent, the cake was an ice cream cake, there was a chocolate fountain, drinks were flowing freely, and we met some really fun people...what more can I ask for?  Congrats to the happy couple!

Dress: Issa London for Banana Republic
Bag: Marc Jacobs clutch from Neimann Marcus/Target collaboration
Shoes: Nine West (bought from the outlet on clearance for $14!)

Outfit: PG x PL

I was busy over the weekend, so I didn't have time to post this.  But this is what I wore out shopping on Sunday.  I felt kind of "all dressed up with no place to go," since I was just shopping on my own, but I've wanted to wear this dress for a long time and am running out of nice weather this year!  So I took the opportunity.

The dress is from Target's previous designer collab with Prabal Gurung.  The material is a bit cheap, but I love the colorblocking and the insanely flattering silhouette.  It was my clear favorite of the collaboration, but also the only piece I hadn't worn yet, because I just hadn't found an occasion for it.

This was an easy outfit to put together.  I needed the big bag (which has already made several appearances here) to put my finds in, since my county and the surrounding ones have enacted a (ridiculous, stupid, terrible, awful...I can't come up with enough words to describe how much I hate this) law that no longer allows stores to give out plastic bags.  You either have to pay 10 cents for paper or go bagless/reusable.  But this isn't the place to get political (even though I need those little plastic bags to line my bathroom trash can and put my recyclables in, grumble grumble...).  The shoes were and easy pick - this dress just begs for pointy-toed heels, and black not only matches the bag but pulls from the accents in the dress.

Dress: Prabal Gurung for Target
Shoes: BCBGirls
Purse: Phillip Lim for Target

Outfit: Buttons and Bows

I worked hard last night and got rewarded with a day off!  Good time to run some errands in a cute outfit...

Today I'm wearing a ridiculously easy and comfortable Target dress that cost me all of $8 on clearance.  The fabric is thick and soft.  It has a subtle hi-lo hem that's a great length for late summer/early fall, and the A-line silhouette is always flattering.

I also picked up these cute Sam & Libby shoes at Target, not knowing that they would go perfectly with this dress.  The turquoise color is an exact match, and the off-white accents pick up the off-white stripes in the dress.  And who doesn't love a cap toe?  I have the same shoes in the nude and off-white color combination too.

The bow belt is an idea I got from a fashion-related Facebook group.  It's a perforated patent leather belt from White House/Black Market.  Works nicely with the black patent lines in my Kate Spade bag.  I also thought the stripes in the bag complemented the subtle stripes in the dress.

Dress: Target/Merona
Shoes: Sam & Libby for Target
Belt: White House/Black Market
Purse: Kate Spade

Outfit: Pencil Skirt and a Pop of Color

Every woman should have a well-constructed pencil skirt.  They have the magical power to flatter every body type and create a timeless, sophisticated look.  I knew I had to own this skirt from J. Crew as soon as I saw it on the rack.  It's pretty much self-explanatory:

So much awesome in one skirt!  I paired this with some of my Phillip Lim for Target pieces; namely, the black peplum top with the sparkly collar and the black tote bag.  I love a peplum top with a pencil skirt - such a boldly feminine silhouette!

Since the clothing was all neutral in color (black/white/navy), I added a pop of color with the shoes.  These are the raspberry Tory Burch flats that I picked up last week.  They're amazing!  I've always wanted to own a pair of Tory Burch flats with the 3-D logo on the toe.  I'm not normally into providing free advertisements for whatever I'm wearing, but her logo is a work of art, so I have no problem displaying it on my tootsies.  Best part: They were only $79 at Nordstrom Rack!

Top: 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target
Skirt: J. Crew (via outlet store)
Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target
Shoes: Tory Burch (via Nordstrom Rack)

Outfit: 90% Target

I'm heading out for some bargain shopping as usual, followed by a BBQ.  The change of seasons has kicked my butt this year, so it's time to start dressing for cool weather.  I had a plan to wear this shirtdress with an ever-so-slightly visible Spanx slip underneath, an idea I saw on another blog (which I'd credit if I remembered the link...sorry!).  But I'm feeling chilly today and did jeggings instead.

If you would have asked me a year ago whether I could pull off jeggings, or even skinny jeans, I would have just about died laughing.  Never in my life did I think that my booty and I could make them work, but it's all about finding the right fit.  And knowing how to wear them.  To me, there's a very distinct difference between leggings/jeggings and pants (skinny or otherwise).  With leggings, the mega-booty must be covered by my top at all times.

Side note: I was actually Googling the difference between tights and leggings the other day.  Technically my rule for leggings (that the top should cover the booty) actually applies to tights rather than leggings, and it's acceptable to wear leggings that aren't covered up, but I can't swing it.

This year, I became a teeeensy bit more adventurous in my clothing choices and bought some dresses with hemlines that hit (*gasp*) above the knee...which is blasphemy for me!  But they were too cute to pass up and didn't come in tall sizes, so I decided to wear them as tunic tops, and into the leggings world I ventured.  Of course, the first place I went to was Target.  Xhilaration is their juniors line, and they make a lot of super-cute leggings, so I bought a few and love them!  However, be forewarned that if you're curvy or basically older than 12, you should size up...a LOT.  I'm usually a small in Target clothing and had to wear a large in the Xhilaration leggings and jeggings.  Also, the jeggings aren't real denim, but just regular legging material with a denim print.  They don't have pockets, faux or otherwise.  So if you're looking for something that mimics actual jeans better, these aren't it.  That said, I love these and found them cute, comfortable, and somehow relatively flattering.

This outfit is almost 100% Target, and I bet with some effort I could get it to 100%.  But I liked this uber-soft Chico's cami so much, I had to include it.  You can't really see it in the pic, but it's black with just a hint of lace detailing at the top.  Styling tip: To create a sleeker look, tuck a cami into your leggings or pants rather than leaving it out.  Similarly, if you wear socks (I'm not), tuck your leggings into them to avoid having the bottoms of the leggings ride up and out of the boots.

Here's the breakdown:

Shirtdress: 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target
Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target
Leggings: Target/Xhilaration Jeggings
Booties: Dolce Vita for Target (I missed this collab but luckily found these on ebay!)
Cami: Chico's Platinum
Belt: White House/Black Market perforated patent bow belt